Digital Darwinism: Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Surviving in the Cutthroat Web Economy Penguin Business Library: Amazon.co.uk: Evan Schwartz: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Over the last few years, the big bang of the World Wide Web has shaken the realm of commerce. Today on the Internet, you can get everything from phone numbers and dancing babies to golf clubs and custom-built computers. Some of these Web sites are businesses that found their genesis in the advent of the Web itself, while others are longstanding companies trying to adapt to the reality of this new digital marketplace. Who will survive and who will be rendered extinct? That's what Evan I. Schwartz tries to answer by dipping into the Internet's "primordial soup" to discover the characteristics of the winners that will eventually emerge.

In Digital Darwinism, Schwartz identifies seven strategies that will separate the winners from the losers. These include building a brand that stands for solving something, elastic pricing, affiliate partnerships and integrating digital commerce with every aspect of business. Schwartz buttresses his arguments with analysis of dozens of companies already competing on the Internet, including Yahoo!, Peapod, Priceline, E*Trade, Dell Computer and Recreational Equipment, Inc. Schwartz views these early years of the Web as largely "irrational," but anticipates a general rationalisation. He writes: "As each successive generation of Web commerce passes, there will be more rational companies and fewer irrational ones, more fit business models and fewer unfit ones. In the future, there may be no such thing as an Internet company. The Internet is becoming so important that all companies will eventually become Internet companies."

Like his previous book, Webonomics, Digital Darwinism is succinct and easy to read. His analysis of the current state of Internet start-ups, their stock prices and their probable fate is provocative, especially when viewed from a Darwinian perspective. For managers, investors and anyone interested in Internet commerce. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards, Amazon.com

Product Description

A follow up to "Webonomics", this text looks at the rapid changes in the web ecconomy over the last couple of years and provides the reader with a sophisticated set of tools to help create, expand or enhance his/her business. Evan Schwartz also explores companies that have so successfully exploited the new rules of the web economy that their entire business or most of their profits are web-based.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

This is one you do not want to miss! 15 Jun 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Schwartz has clearly written an enticing and incredibly insightful piece which is a must read for anyone and everyone looking at the future of e-commerce. You owe it to yourself, and to your business, to read Digital Darwinism.

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A uniqe approach to defining on-line brand strategies 14 Oct 2000

Format:Paperback

Digital Darwinism is one of the business books that actually inspire the reader to be excited by the developments in the new media industry. Rather than focus on the technical ins and outs of web design, the book discusses business strategies in a mixture of marketing and history. The author further discusses 7 key strategies for building brands on-line and goes on to give examples of companies that have followed these strategies. Essential reading.

Excellent book packed with examples of web successes 4 April 2000

By miffj@hotmail.com

I really enjoyed this book as it explains Evan Schwartz' theories in detail with loads of examples. The stories of web companies in America help to show how far behind we in Britain are in our thinking of the internet as a business tool. A thoroughly enjoyable read.